Insuring your Gen1 Tacoma

Any of you ever figure out how to insure your Gen1 Tacoma that is in great condition for its actual value instead of the garbage blue book value? We know we could sell a very well maintained "low mileage" gen1 tacoma for good money... but the insurance coverage for such a truck is basically pointless. I plan on keeping my Gen1 tacoma forever but I worry with all the money ive put into it... that all it will take is being stolen or totaled and im just totally SOL as the blue book value is pennies compared to its actual value it could be sold for privately.

 

Hagerty insurance, or something similar

 

You don’t have to settle an insurance claim for blue book value. Blue book was $6000 when I got hit. I refused to accept and sent comps until they agreed to ~$12k value and fixed the truck

 

by "comps" are you saying you kept sending them comparable trucks with their higher listed value until they gave you 12K?

 

Yep. I said no to their low ball first offer, and they sent me comps. One was rusted visibly through, one wasn’t 4wd, and the third was 1400 miles away.

I sent back comps that were local and in actual comparable shape or outside of 200 miles and added appropriate shipping costs. I also detailed the condition of my truck including high-dollar maintenance that would have to be done to comps to make them the same. They returned an offer that was high enough to cover repair (at the shop I CHOSE) instead of totaling it.

 

Yep. It’s a negotiation. Be kind, be firm, and have everything in writing. You don’t need specialty insurance for a DD first gen

 

Dudes, this is great info! Thank you! Keep the tips coming!

 

I’ve got my 98 and 95 insured under classic cad insurance. And my mr2.. limited mileage yes. But the mr2 is valued at 20 grand. VS kbb 5 grand, and the tacos for 15 and 20 respectively. They didn’t really argue with me on the valuations. Best part? The insurace for this is cheaper than regular full coverage…

my 01 doesn’t qualify for classic yet, but soon it will be. There’s agreed on value for the newer ones through state farm. But it’s more money than clasisc

 

Are they all insured through state farm?

 

Yes. All the Tacomas (expect my 02 I haven’t insured) and the other cars

 

If you are outside of CA you will be able to do it through a brand new program that State Farm offers. Agreed value on a DD that is.

As far as just adding the option onto your current insurance as “upgraded equipment” or “aftermarket parts”, on a claim you will get paid out depreciated value in those parts and they can ask for receipts.

FWIW, I am a property and casualty insurance agent and have been since 2015. I was at the Grand National Truck Show in Pomona, CA yesterday and there was an agency there called Grundy Insurance and we talked shop for a bit. I thought maybe she knew something I didn’t because she specializes in modified and upgraded trucks. She told me that State Farm is the only company who is starting to insure “non classic” daily drivers and they are only doing it outside of CA.

So getting a cut and dry agreed value policy may be an option for you soon in your area. But I can say as a professional with almost a decade in the auto insurance business, there is a lot of good advice in this thread.

Just curious @Empty_Lord does SF know your car is a daily driver and if so, what do they call your policy or program? Pretty excited to hear someone who is benefiting from this cool new product.

 

none of the trucks are daily drivers these days. the avalon gets that roll.

my tundra has coverage for all the extras i did on it. that didnt increase or decrease anything. its just in the contract that as long as i provide receipts for the parts installed i'll be covered for them

 

Dude... awesome info thank you! I got some calls to make.

 

Question, when you say "coverage for all the extras" what exactly does that mean? For instance, my 2002 has had a ton of work done on it like all new suspension(oem), radiator, bedliner, cat, tint, etc. Is this the kind of stuff youre referring to?

 

Many of those items don't matter IE radiator, suspension, etc.

These are components needed for the vehicle to be complete.

Add-ons are something you would discuss with your insurance provider and figure out if it's covered. So far you haven't added anything of value (no offense).

But if you had say, full long-travel suspension where you had about $10k of specialized parts and labor, that could be written in your policy. This is not something you should assume is covered!

In my case, I never cared if I got my vehicle stolen as all my add-ons were covered.

 

Gotcha, makes sense!

 

Mine got hailed on. Twice. Fixed it. Twice. Got hailed on again. They wanted to total it because of the hail. Now I only carry liability. Gambling. I know but I could just get another and have lots of good parts. lol

 

Just remember as any new High end Parts are installed to update your policy!!

Those parts can be covered.